Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Montevallo Bulldogs had a busy week on their hands as they had back-to-back matchdays to start the week after competing in the Hillcrest JLA VolleyBrawl on Saturday, Oct. 5.

After reaching the championship game in the Volleybrawl, Montevallo used its momentum from the successful day to defeat Indian Springs 3-1 on Monday, Oct. 7 at Indian Springs School and sweep the Calera Eagles 3-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Montevallo High School.

The Bulldogs got off to a strong start in tournament action on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, taking down the Hueytown Golden Gophers twice and defeating Hale County and Paul W. Bryant to reach the finals.

There, Montevallo fell to Class 7A Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, but the Bulldogs walked away from the tournament with a 4-1 record and a runner-up plaque.

After that, Montevallo had less than 48 hours to recover before traveling across the county to face Indian Springs in a match that was originally set to take place on Sept. 12 but was postponed due to weather.

Much like their thrilling first meeting, the teams were tightly matched in the opening two sets, and just a handful of points separated them in the first set.

In the end, Montevallo took the 25-21 win in the opening frame, but they could not replicate that success in the following set.

The second set was even tighter than the first and ended up in a 24-24 tie, forcing extra points to decide a winner.

From there, Springs took back-to-back points to earn the 26-24 win and tie up the match at one set win apiece.

After just narrowly losing the second set, the Bulldogs left nothing to chance in the third set and surged ahead to a dominant lead.

Montevallo cruised to a 25-14 win in the third set, and the double-digit victory put the visitors up 2-1 in the match and needing just one set win to emerge victorious.

Indian Springs made the fourth set closer than the third, but it couldn’t get close enough to threaten for the lead down the stretch.

The Bulldogs sealed the 3-1 victory with a 25-18 fourth-set win, and they also claimed the season series over their county foes as a result.

The next day, Montevallo hoped to avoid a season-series loss against a county rival, this time against the Calera Eagles as they visited MHS following their 3-1 win over the Bulldogs on Aug. 26 and their split meetings at the South of Town Showdown on Sept. 14.

Squaring off for the fourth time this season, the Bulldogs got the better of the Eagles to start the match and took the first set 25-18.

That win in the opening frame set up Montevallo for success as it claimed the next two sets from there.

However, Calera did not go down without a fight as it fought to make the second set close. The hosts trailed by just one with the Bulldogs on set point.

Montevallo stayed strong and won the second set 25-23, and that gave way to a dominant performance in the third set.

With a sweep on the table, the Bulldogs capitalized and built out a big lead that they turned into a 25-12 win in the third set.

That sealed the 3-0 win for Montevallo, its second-straight win and 10th in the last 12 matches.

The Bulldogs are now 24-12 on the season and will face Hale County at home on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. to finish out the regular season.

Afterwards, it will travel to Demopolis for the Class 5A, Area 5 tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 16 with a spot in super regionals on the line.

Calera will conclude the 2024 regular season with a road trip to the John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

The Eagles will then face the Benjamin Russell Wildcats on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Class 6A, Area 5 tournament at Chilton County High School, with the winner advancing to super regionals.